Samsung Said to Hire Former Apple Store Designer For Its Own Retail Push

Samsung already has a reputation for riding Apple's coattails when it comes to design, and now The Information is claiming (via AppleInsider) that the Korean tech giant has nabbed Tim Gudgel to design its own retail stores. Gudgel had formerly worked for Apple for almost six years according to his LinkedIn page, and The Information's two sources note that Gudgel will be working with Samsung to design stores as a part of Samsung's "deeper investment in U.S. retail."

Gudgel's no small fry. He'd previously worked with the prestigious Gehry Firm, and an earlier AppleInsider article lists him as one of the inventors of the well-known design for Apple's retail store in New York's Upper West Side. Gudgel's hiring seems to serve as complementary venues to the company's "Samsung Experience Shops" planned for 1,500 Best Buy locations (which in themselves mirror Apple's own small spaces in the store).

Gudgel's hiring may be impressive, but let's hope Samsung does more with his talents than it did recently in Australia, where one of its standalone stores was criticized for its heavy similarities to Apple's own retail locations.

Microsoft, of course, started a similar push for standalone retail locations throughout the United States in 2009, but to date the project hasn't been as popular as the folks up in Redmond have probably hoped. Samsung, however, may enjoy greater success on account of the widespread popularity of its products, particularly among users of mobile devices.